Admission requirements for doctoral programs

In addition to the general requirements for admission to the graduate programs in the Graduate School (in the Graduate study section of this bulletin), the following requirements represent the minimum acceptable standards for admission:

Graduation with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, but not necessarily with a major in psychology.

18 semester hours of undergraduate course work in psychology is the minimal, but not optimal, number of hours for an applicant to be considered for admission. Included must be each of the following courses: general psychology, statistics and experimental psychology. Exceptionally well-qualified applicants with less than a major in psychology, or applicants whose undergraduate work is considered outdated by the admissions committee, may be advised to complete some additional undergraduate courses at the beginning of their graduate study program.

An undergraduate record indicating superior academic potential.

Satisfactory performance on the GRE.

Three letters of recommendation from previous instructors.

A personal interview may be required at the discretion of the department.

The number of students who can be admitted is limited by the facilities and staff available. All applicants will be notified of the decision made. The screening process may begin as early as Jan. 1. First offers of admission are made by April 1. By June 1, after other offers to alternates have been made and final acceptances by students have been received, admissions may be closed. See the admission requirements summary tables to view admission deadlines for each of the Ph.D. programs: clinical psychology, counseling psychology, general psychology (biopsychology, developmental psychology, social psychology) and health psychology.

Applicants to the general psychology program should specify to which of the three divisions they are applying (i.e., biopsychology, developmental or social).

Transfer credits for graduate work at other institutions will be evaluated after the completion of nine semester hours in the department.